A Timber-Frame Terminology

Various types of roof truss designs are available,

including hammer beam and scissor trusses.

BAY. For efficiency in both construction effort and material

use, timber-frame structures are typically erected in
boxlike sections, called bays, consisting of two bents (one
on each end) along with additional frame members that
connect the bents and form the structure.

Construction Components Terms

BEAM. Any horizontal timber.

BENT. Each bent forms an end-wall in a bay. Like
individual slices in a bread loaf, bents extend completely
through the structure from one end to the other, and from
the foundation base to the topmost ridge, and serve as
the major load-bearing assemblies in a timber frame.
Bents are usually built flat on the ground or floor deck,
then raised to their vertical position with a crane (or many
willing hands).
CHAMFER. A 45-degree flat edge planed or routed along
the outer, or leading, edges of a timber. Although
chamfers are essentially decorative, they are often placed
where occupants may come into contact with sharply cut,
exposed timber angles and edges to prevent injury.
GREEN TIMBER. Wood used in timber framing is often
built into a frame soon after it is cut, when it is still
green, without any intermediate drying period. The
joinery used in such a frame is designed to tighten and
become stronger as this green wood dries and shrinks in
the framework. Sometimes, timbers are air-dried in
weather-protected enclosures to remove moisture and
reduce them to nominal finished size, or kiln dried in a
heated environment to almost furniture-grade condition.
POST. Any vertical timber.
RECLAIMED TIMBER. Wood that is salvaged intact from
older timber-frame buildings such as barns, mills and
factories, and is then reused or recycled into a new
structure. Owners often pay a premium for the unique
appearance and qualities of aged or antique timbers.
TIMBER. According to standard lumber classifications, a
timber is a length of solid wood with a cross-section
greater than five inches on a side. Mill construction, a
designation for fire code requirements, calls for structural
timbers cut to a minimum of eight inches per side.
Timbers are used interchangeably as both posts and
beams in timber-frame buildings.
TRUNNEL. A large wood dowel or peg used as a fastener
in wood joinery. The word is derived from the descriptive
term tree nail. Depending on the builder or owners
prerogatives, the exposed pegs are either cut off flat to
the face of the timbers or remain uncut to extend beyond
for a more rustic look.
TRUSS. An arrangement of horizontal and vertical
timbers used to support a roof, upper floor or balcony. A
truss combines and multiplies the weight-bearing strength
of its individual timbers, allowing the assembly to span a
greater unsupported area and carry heavier loads.

BEAM. Any horizontal timber.

BRACE. Variously called knee braces, angle braces or
wind braces, these short, diagonally positioned timber
supports are used as reinforcement in the corners of a
frame to prevent shear, or horizontal movement.
GIRT. This critical frame component forms a horizontal
band, or girdle, completely around a timber frame. Often
referred to as a girder, bent girt or girding beam, it also
serves as the base, or sill, for each upper floor and is
frequently used as the outer support beam for individual
floor joists.
GUNSTOCK POST. Also known as a jowled post, this
unique vertical support is dimensionally wider at the top to
enable it to form an intersection for multiple beams and
support members.
HAMMER BEAM. An elaborate type of tie beam used in
open or unconnected trusses, often in conjunction with a
curved brace, which helps to transmit the weight of a
structures roof to the walls.
JOIST. These horizontal beams simultaneously carry the
weight of interior flooring and serve as room ceiling
supports. Joists are supported by major horizontal
support members such as girts and intermediary weightbearing beams such as summer beams.
KING POST. This key timber forms the center point in a
truss, or geometric support framework, and is often used
as an intersection for other frame members. Although it is,
technically speaking, a post, it is usually suspended from
above and rarely extends to the floor of a structure.
PLATE. A beam that forms the horizontal base of the
structure and serves as a foundation or attachment point
for vertical frame members such as posts and walls.
POST. Any vertical timber.
PURLIN. The upper sections of timber-frame bents are
often connected and reinforced horizontally by purlins,
which also support the roof deck.
QUEEN POSTS. These vertical frame members are used
in a truss configured with two symmetrical posts instead
of, or in addition to, a single king post.
RAFTER. Roof-support timbers that extend upward, from
the wall plate to the topmost ridge beam, are called
rafters. Rafters and purlins are sometimes used in
combination. Principal rafters form the sloping gable roofline on each bent.
RIDGE. This horizontal member, otherwise known as a
ridge beam or ridge plate, connects the bents at the apex

of a timber-frame gable. Ridge beams are not always

required and may be omitted in some structures.
SUMMER BEAM. Sometimes referred to as a center girt,
this beam is typically used to span large open areas and
support the weight of other beams, such as joists at the
center of a floor. Because it is required to bear
considerable weight, it is often the single largest wood
component in a timber-frame structure.
TIE BEAM. An auxiliary frame member, also known as a
collar tie, it is installed horizontally between roof rafters to
prevent a roof from spreading apart because of structural
(weight) loading.
Joinery Terms
BIRDSMOUTH. A complex cut made at the tail end, or
bottom, of a rafter that allows the timber to extend over
and past the wall top plate, providing a greater bearing
and attachment surface.
BUTT. One of the least complicated joints, in which
mating pieces are square-cut and simply butted against
one another. Because this joint has little inherent strength
and depends on gravity or fasteners to remain in place, it
is typically limited to intersections that are not subject to
movement or strong opposing forces, such as where
timber posts rest atop horizontal beams.
DOVETAIL. A commonly used joint that includes a fanshaped tusk or tenon that drops into and interlocks in a
similarly shaped pocket cut. The wedge-like shape of this
extremely strong joint prevents the interlocked timbers
from shifting or separating from one another.
LAP. A joint in which the ends of two timbers are cut at
matching angles and simply overlaid, or overlapped,
then fastened to each other. Because the wood grain
direction of the mating pieces is parallel, these joints are
easily concealed and often invisible. Lap joints are
typically used to extend, or lengthen, timbers in long
horizontal runs.
MORTISE & TENON. A frequently used joint in timber
framing, it includes a male end (tenon) cut onto the end of
one timber that fits into a square-cut matching female
receptacle (mortise). Like many timber frame joints, it is
often locked in place by the addition of hardwood dowels,
or pegs, called trunnels (tree nails).
POCKET CUT. Similar to a mortise, this joint receptacle
typically is open in two dimensions; cut into the side or
top face of a timber, it is designed to receive an identically
shaped tenon or tusk formed at the end of a mating
timber.
STEP-LAPPED RAFTER SEAT. An improved type of
birdsmouth and overlapping joint, it typically includes
complimentary cuts in the rafter and plate to resist
downward and outward thrust, as well as side-to-side
movement.

SPLINE. A long, relatively thin wood section used to

splice two timbers or reinforce a joint. The spline is
typically layered between the timbers and the assembly is
fastened through with wood dowels.
SHOULDER. A ledge cut into the face of a joint; this
added facet increases a beams load-carrying capacity by
transferring downward force directly to the post while the
joints tenon resists the lateral load, or tension.
THROUGH JOINT. A descriptive term used for joints in
which a tenon or tusk passes completely through a
mortise or pocket cut into the receiving timber.
TONGUE & FORK. A specialized joint often used to
connect the upper ends of rafters that meet to form a
peak, or gable. One timber end is cut in an open Ushaped configuration (the fork), and a single tongue
formed on the intersecting timber closely fits into the
space between the fork ends.
TUSK. A tenon-like extension formed at the end of a
timber that fits into a matching mortise or pocket cut; this
joint typically includes an additional shoulder or ledge cut
into the outside face of the joint.
WEDGE. A wood shim inserted into a joint to tighten and
lock the intersecting timbers in place.